Who Really Was Bingo: the Farmer or the Dog?
January 25, 2018
As I sit here in my expensive but smartly-decorated study late at night, I listen to the rain pound upon my house and the thunder roar with fury. My eyes are fixed on the table before me, and when a flash of lightning illuminates the room I catch a quick glance of my stack of scattered papers. Newspaper articles, popular magazines, crumpled fliers—all of them pertaining to one single question I have been chasing my entire life. Who really was Bingo?
Since the very moment humankind first grasped the abstract concept of time, every single person has been told the story of the farmer who had a dog. This tale has become so deeply ingrained in humanity’s mind, however, that a very large discrepancy has gone totally unnoticed. Indeed, from the ancient text it is known that this farmer had a dog, but the lyric, “and Bingo was his name-o” does not explicitly state who this “Bingo” truly was.
In an effort to find out, I have scoured the seven continents and spoken with police agencies, traveling shamans, motorbike gangs and even a Yorkshire Terrier who claims to be a descendent of … the dog. My travels have left me with countless, irreparable wounds—physical, mental and spiritual. I ask myself, “Was it worth it?” Tonight, it became worth it.
I sit up, mouth agape and knees shaking. In my hand is the last piece to the labyrinth of a puzzle that I have spent years assembling on my desk. It’s a snippet of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, but backwards and every fourth letter is the thumbs-up emoji. I gently place it in its spot and my mind instantly collapses upon itself; a single tear glides down my face. Bingo’s true form has finally revealed itself to me … We are ALL Bingo.
SteveO • Feb 17, 2022 at 1:08 pm
There was a farmer had a dog, and Bingo was his name-o.
In this sentence, “dog” is the antecedent noun for the pronoun “his”. In this case, the dog’s name is Bingo.
There was a farmer, had a dog, and Bingo was his name-o.
In this sentence, by adding the appositive comma, “had a dog” converts to a non-essential clause, and can be removed from the sentence. In this case, the farmer’s name is Bingo.
But I think the correct answer is, “We are ALL Bingo”.
Daisy • Apr 25, 2021 at 2:55 pm
Okay besides the point, the lyrics say “there was a farmer who had a dog and Bingo was his name o.
THE WORD HAD… past tense…
Then it came to my head if this so called farmer had a dog surely the dog must have been called bingo.
Along with that this dog could also be dead?
Bilbo • Apr 1, 2021 at 8:02 pm
The dog’s name is bingo. A pronoun always refers back to the most recent noun which is called the antecedent. The most recent noun is ‘dog’, so ‘his’ would refer to the dog. Grammatically speaking .
Ed • May 24, 2020 at 2:49 pm
I believe based on the sentence structure of the song, “There was a farmer had a dog”…. we’re spun into a brick wall figuring this out based on the language.
I also believe there are two elements of opinion at play here. 1) Americans such as myself grew up believing the dog’s name is Bingo, and defend it. Also, 2) What’s more possible, the dog or the farmer is named Bingo? Most dog lovers would say it’s the dog.
But replace the nouns:
“There was a girl had a car, and Alice was her name.” This becomes a little more challenging as we’re now assigning gender to the car, but cars generally are female. So is the girl’s name Alice, or is it a car?
“There was a girl had an apple, and Pat was her name.” Well, the fruit might not have a gender specific description, but people might say, “She’s a beaut!” Also, now Pat could be short for Patricia or Patrick…. So we’re back to square one!
There’s no resolving this with the current translation of the song. But it’s a fun dinner party conversation for those of us who have kids. 🙂
Dick.Berton • Apr 19, 2020 at 8:08 am
Those who have not failed may not have succeeded
cassie • Oct 7, 2019 at 10:16 am
There was a farmer, who had a dog, and bingo was his name. I believe bingo is the farmer’s name. If you look at the sentence it is a comma rule. There was a farmer, who had a dog, and bongo was his name. You say the topic of the sentence, then a comma, and then a fact after that comma. It is a random fact in the middle of the sentence.
Stu • Sep 2, 2019 at 7:05 am
Bravo!
You have put into words that which all of us have needed to come to terms with. The energies of curiosity and knowledge have been imbalanced for too long and the text you have shared finally brings us right!
Thank you.